Quicker Than the Eye
by KJay99
Summary: Pete and Myka on a case in Calgary, and Steve and Leena battle pirates!
1. Gesundheit

**Welcome to my latest offering of a story.**

**Please feel free to comment, critique and criticize, even request, if you like.  
This story is in progress, but I hope to get a healthy flow of chapters out to you. Here's my first bit of fluff to get it going.  
Edited by Kendralynora. Thanks. **

* * *

"Gesundheit." Myka Bearing said to her partner after his sneeze, and hoping to change the subject, but she had no such luck.

"All I'm saying is that me knowing as much as I do about football should be worth as much as you knowing what you do about books." Pete Lattimer's slightly nasally voice filled the umbilicus with his passionate argument.

Curley haired, suit clad Myka, who was every bit the bookworm that her obnoxious counterpart was accusing her to be, glared at him. "Pete! Knowing the name of the, the names of the players and their…stats," She nearly spat out at him as she gestured with her one arm; her other crossed tightly across her chest, "Is not the same as knowing the best authors in literature!"

"Yes! Yes it is!" Pete emphatically replied. His boyish eyes conveyed his conviction. "You see? You know all kinds of things about books and, and old stuff, and I know all kinds of things about, you know, more current stuff," He patted his t-shirt clad chest.

Myka tilted her curly brunette head, "How is the, the… who's the cowguy?"

"The Cowboys? They're from Dallas."

Myka huffed and stopped walking in the white, round hallway, "No, the gun guy. For the- your team."

It was Pete's turn to tilt his head in confusion, "My- the Browns? Are you talking about Colt McCoy?"

Myka waved her hand, palm up at him. "Yes! Him! How is knowing that Colt guy's name an advantage to you?"

Pete was ready with a retort, "Beeecauuuse that is basic knowledge. What guy doesn't know Colt McCoy?" He finished with both hands out to the side as if explaining the very basics of male interaction.

"Okay! Okay, wait." Myka pointed a long finger at Pete. "Well, did you know that the Titans are from mythology? That's literature." Pete huffed like he wasn't convinced so Myka continued to press the point of her argument. "Okay, and, and the Baltimore Ravens; they took that name because Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore, so they took the Raven as a mascot from his poem."

Pete froze when he got a thoughtful look on his face, "Okay- I, I didn't know that."

"Ha!" Myka's face lit up in victory. She pushed by her stunned partner to press her credentials to the access panel and let it scan her iris. The secure door to the Warehouse and Artie's office hissed open and the pair reported in for work.


	2. Spider!

**Apologizes for the delay.  
The good news is that a major logistical block for this story had been cleared up, so it can progress. **

**Thanks for the reviews. Once again, I owe Kendrynora for the edit.**

* * *

Myka led Pete into Artie's office, but she wished that she let him lead when he sneezed again, this time, all over the back of her sleeve. She glanced back at him and noticed that he looked more tired than just a few moments ago.

"Ah good. You're here," The old man spun around in his chair in greeting at his most experienced agents.

"You got a ping for us, Artie?" Pete asked.

Their boss waved off the comment and pointed to the Warehouse floor. "Help first. Claudia's outside. Now!" He barked a millisecond later, prompting the pair to hurry out the door. Artie followed closely behind them, but he did a double take at his computer when passing by and slowed his pace. His bushy eyebrows went up and he nearly leapt back to his computer as Pete and Myka went out the door.

* * *

Claudia stopped the forklift when Steve indicated that she was close to the stairs. The slim red head was hopping down from the machine when Myka and Pete walked up to Steve.

"Hey guys," Steve greeted the duo.

Myka nodded her greeting, and took in the large box that was loaded on the forklift. Pete, as usual, didn't try to figure things out on his own. "What's this? Artie's hidden cookie jar, finally revealed?" Pete smiled, but neither Myka nor Jinks did so much as smirk towards his joke.

Steve answered his first question, disregarding the juvenile cookie jar joke, "Containment for the suit of armor in Artie's office. It's been acting up since Zeus hit it with a lightning bolt." Claudia bounded up to the group during the explanation.

Pete turned to Myka, "When did who hit it with lightning?"

Claudia piped up, "Zeus, or his statue, around the time that Jinksy first got here. Ever since, it's been twitching and frying the drives on Artie's computers."

Steve added, "And Leena said that sixteen swords in the blades section have moved towards the office. She thinks that the armour is somehow attracting them." He added, "But the winch is broken, so we're counting on your extra manly muscles here Pete." This time Steve did smirk a little when he patted Pete on his bulky shoulder.

Pete, as Steve predicted, was amply impressed with himself. He puffed his chest up. "Yup. Yup. Good thing that I'm here, well, we- that we're here." He pulled his ego up at the last minute and acknowledged Myka who was tilting her head at him, "Meaning, me and Myka here, Artie… well was here, but-" He hiked up his pants again in a very manly fashion, "I guess he knew that he had all the muscles that he needed down here already." He clapped his hands and rubbed them together, eyeing up the large box.

Steve's tactic worked. Soon, Pete and Steve were lifting the coffin sized box with Myka and Claudia directing and pulling from the top. By the time the group wrestled the box to the top of the stairs, all four of the agents were sweaty and out of breath. Together, Steve and Pete set the box on edge. Myka steadied the crate as the guys caught their breaths.

Pete huffed and wiped his face on his t-shirt, "Remind me to grab Teddy Atlas' briefs before doing this again."

"Pete!" Myka reprimanded.

"Hey, I'm not saying I would use an artifact!"

Steve, equally out of breath, added, "I can see the draw." Claudia and Myka shot him such dirty looks that he flinched, "Well, I can."

Pete opened up the door leading to the office, "See? That's what I mean. Just a little help every so often. Nothing 'going to destroy the world' or anything. Geesh."

"STOP!" Artie's voice boomed out, freezing everyone in place.

Claudia scampered up to Pete, who was in front, "What's up gramps?"

"Artifact disturbance," Leena filled them in as Artie, already wearing purple gloves, started patting the Pete down. Leena stood close beside Artie with a static bag ready to bag the artifact.

"Hey! Easy! Artie, take me out to dinner first man!" Pete jokingly teased at their rough handling.

"Shut up," Artie tersely respond to his slightly sexual teasing. The pair quickly moved to find the artifact in their semi frantic search.

"Artie, what is it?" Myka asked, "What's missing?"

Artie ignored the question, so Leena answered, "The Russian Assassin Spider."

That was enough to make Artie fill in the gaps, "It's a small, well- about-" He holds up his thumb and a short finger to show roughly four inches long.

"That's small!?" Steve bursts out.

Artie scowled at Steve, but kept searching; checking the inside of Pete's collar for the stowaway. "I think it's responsible for at least four, or, or probably five deaths in Russia around-"

"Artie!" Leena levelled her eyes at him, cutting off the ramble and refocusing the old man.

"Okay! It seeks out body heat. I- I think that it uses the electric charge of the person wearing it. It must have sensed an electrical source or- or heat, and gone after it- one of you," He eyed the four of them suspiciously.

Artie and Leena eliminated Pete as the stowaway vehicle and rushed up to Claudia to start patting her down quickly and thoroughly. Pete tried to smooth his hair out after the pair roughed it up.

"Why the frantic search?" Claudia asked, flinching at the rough handling.

Artie didn't stop beating her on the back while peeking inside her pockets as he answered, "Made before electricity was in use, so it's very sensitive to any kind of electrical source. If it gets into here..." Artie waved his hand at all the electronics in his office and huffs out a non-humorous laugh of dread.

"What will it do?" Myka asked.

"I-" Artie looked around a bit self-consciously, "It has lethal poison, kills in minutes… in here, I- Idon't want to find out! Myka! Next!"

Myka held up her hands like they were pointing guns at her; subjecting herself to the search.

Steve, Pete, and Claudia grin, but don't laugh, seeing as how grave Artie and Leena looked. They all knew that when Artie was serious, he expected the same in return, even if he was asking about fudge. Artie squinted his eyes to suppress his amusement, and then started patting her down while Leena went through her suit jacket.

Still unsuccessful, everyone suddenly looked to the last person left. Steve, innocent looking as always, stared back at the gang.

"What? Me? Okay, okay! Search me!" Steve smirked and moved to put his hands on his head when suddenly his eyes bulged.

Artie, alerted, stepped forward, protectively in front of Claudia. He gaped but no one said a word as Steve slowly rolled his eyes upwards.

"Uh… guys…?" Jinks hunched his shoulders like he was trying to suck his neck down. Then, everyone saw what he was reacting to.

A black, gold and red spider, the size of a peach, crawled to the top of Steve's brush-cut head.

Artie held his arms out sideways, as if to protect everybody. He hit Claudia and Leena who were standing just behind him, "Stop! Just—keep it there!" He grabbed Claudia's shoulder briefly then bolted off to the back of the office.

"What? Artie!" Claudia called after him, but she just saw the tails of his brown shirt flying as he ran from the room, "Uh…" Claudia looked around and saw Pete slowly walking up beside her with a neutralizer bag, "Pete? What cha going to do with that?" Claudia said quietly out of the side of her mouth, not willing to let her eyes stray from the spider cleaning its legs on top of Steve's head.

"Tag 'em and bag 'em, Claudster…" Pete replied quietly. Myka looked from her suddenly serious partner to the younger Steve, who was desperately trying to remain calm with a moving artifact bug atop his head. Myka had no doubt that Pete was going to pounce if that spider made one wrong move.

"Down on your knees Steve," Pete said quietly.

"What? Why?" He replied in a hoarse whisper, betraying his alarm.

Pete kept his eyes on the spider, along with everyone else in the room, "So that I can bag it!"

"Something tells me…" Steve said as he gently lowered himself down to his knees, moving very slowly, "…that this is a bad idea…"

Myka and Leena watched as Claudia and Pete stalked the spider on top of Steve's head. Pete held the bag out as if he was ready to bag Steve's head along with, if necessary. Myka was worried that that was exactly what was going to happen, so she took a step forward to be that much closer to rip the bag off Steve's head if need be. Pete caught his partner's eye like he had the same thought. Myka felt fairly confident that either he or she could prevent Steve from suffocating, if it came to that.

Claudia and Pete crept in closer, moving slowly, when the spider suddenly alerted and reared up. Everyone gasped as it waved its front legs threateningly, revealing golden, dangerous looking fangs that glistened with poison. Pete and Claudia froze. Steve closed his eyes tight and held his breath.

Claudia said through clenched teeth, "Get ready…"

"I am…" Pete replied back, clenching his jaw; not moving his lips.

"On three. One…"

"WAIT!" Artie suddenly burst into the room, lugging a heavy contraption. He glanced up and yelled, "Myka!"

Myka ran to her boss and quickly spread the legs out on a tripod supporting a space age-y, very old - thing. It was the size of a small suitcase, but from the constant whirring sound that was coming from it, Myka predicted that something was rotating inside.

"Step back!" Artie ordered. Grudgingly, Pete and Claudia slowly crept a step back from Steve who was still on his knees and sporting a ticked off jewelled spider charm on the crown of his head.

"What? Artie- what is that?" Steve's eyes nervously went from trying to look at his own head, to his boss, to a barrel that Artie folded down and aimed at Steve's head.

Artie's eyes dance up and down as he lined up the gun. "Steve… just … don't move," Artie said far too calmly to help the young man's nerves.

With a jerk, Artie grabbed a lever and pulled it downwards on the device. The whirring sound increased until it culminated with a high pitched type of beep. The narrowed end of the device glowed for a moment before there was a sound like a big puff of air that was let out. Then, it went quiet.

Steve, who had clamped his eyes closed when Artie pointed the large suitcase gun at him, timidly cracked one eye open, then the other. He directed both of his blue eyes up. "Is it, still there?"

Pete and Claudia looked at each other, then at the spider. It was still sitting atop Steve's noggin, but the spider was frozen in an attack rear, just prior to sinking its fangs into Steve.

"Now!" Artie encouraged.

The gang didn't wait. Claudia let out a groan of disgust at toughing the arachnid as she quickly grabbed the spider and threw it at Pete who also leapt forward, bag open and ready. Sparks flew from the bag, making everyone flinch and shield their eyes.

Steve felt the top of his head, then the back, and the sides, holding on to his ears for a moment before composing himself. Myka stepped up to help the shaken agent up from his knees until he was standing on his slightly unsteady legs.

"Artie! What was that?!" Steve exclaimed.

"The Russian Assas-"

"Not that!" Steve nodded to the closed bag in Pete's hands. He pointed at the tripod suitcase gun, "THAT!"

"Uh- oh," Artie looked to his side, like he forgot the gun was still there, "Uh… it's an early concept device commissioned by the Medevichi family in 1209. Produces localized magnetic disturbances. Actually, it was based on the designs of Leonardo Da Vincci, who- few people know- was actually NOT involved –"

Steve just stared at the contraption that was, until a moment ago, firing at his head while his boss babbled on until Claudia interrupted him with a hand on his arm.

"Oh my geesh- Artie, what does it do?"

The old man looked confused and repeated, "Puts out a localized magnetic disturbance."

"EMP," Myka offered.

A look of realization came over everyone in the room, including Steve. "Am I going to- like- forget my name now?" He asked quietly.

Everyone waited for Artie to respond, but the old man just stared at Steve who was still gawking at the gun.

"Artie!" Steve uncharacteristically insisted, clearly showing his alarm at his new boss's indifference to the danger that he put him in.

"No! Uh—mmm… probably not," Artie said dismissively. He turned back to Steve after a thought, "But if you do, let me know. Pete!" Artie moved quickly around a stunned Steve, to Pete who was still holding the bagged spider. He took the bag from him, then just as quickly handed it off to Leena, who left the room to stow the dangerous artifact.

Pete slapped Steve hard on the back, making the poor guy fall forward a bit, "Keep this up Steve-o and you'll have more close calls than Claudia!" The thin red head scowled a teasing face at Pete who pointed at her, teasing her back, but then coughed and hacked; clearing his throat.

"Keep that up Pete-o and you'll be missing a lung!" Claudia replied. Pete tried to answer but was interrupted by another cough.


	3. Jets and Checks

** As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed and read.**  
**Kendralynora, for her review and editing, MarieRene, for also editing, Jimmy for the review, and last but never least, Steampunkarcher for the coolest name out of all of us! :)**

* * *

Steve was set up on the couch in Artie's office. It was his turn to monitor the Warehouse but it was quiet so he prepped himself to watch his Jets for the American football game with a soda (because he was on Warehouse duty), nachos (with hot meat and jalapeno toppings), a pepperoni pizza and a full bag of Doritos. This special break from his usually healthy diet, he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He knew that Pete was out on a case with Myka, so he has the football game to himself without having to switch channels to the Browns game. He flicked the channel on to get his fill of Shannon Sharpe and Howie Long's game analysis until the action started.

Halfway through the first quarter, it was still a good game. He knew that his team was so bad this year that he had to enjoy the beginning of the games because it was the only time they weren't losing badly. Steve was ever the one to try to find the best in situations, but the Jets this year were challenging his ability to be optimistic.

He cheered and clapped at a field goal, happy for any points at all, when Leena walked by. "Hey Leena," he called out.

"Hello Steve." She calmly turned toward him and observed his game day meal with a smile. "Did you raid Pete's football stash?"

"Uh." Steve only took the Doritos from Pete's not-so-secret stash of goodies, but he fully intended on replacing them before he got back. "Well, a little bit," Steve said truthfully, playfully returning her grin. "Did something come up? I'm on monitoring duty."

"Maybe." Leena turned a troubled gaze out the window of the office that overlooked the expansive Warehouse. Just then Artie came out of his room above the spiral staircase and looked over the metal balcony.

"Trouble, Leena?" The supervisor asked.

Steve got up and crossed the office to Artie's computers that monitored every artifact what was shelved. "There's no alerts."

With a sort of faint troubled look, Leena said, "Yesterday, the pirate ship wasn't happy."

Artie ambled down the staircase. His eyes went distant as he pulled up the artifact in question. "Section 418, Nautical," he recited disjointedly.

"I'm going to check on it. Just to make sure that everything's fine." Leena headed to the door leading to the catwalk and Warehouse.

Steve looked back at the TV to see the Jets run a third running play in a row on a third and 7, and the quarterback get injured for the season. Steve sighed in annoyance. He looked and caught Artie glaring at him pointedly.

Steve got the hint. "Hey Leena." Artie held out a canister of goo. Shouldering the canister, Steve chased after Leena. "Hey, wait up!"

* * *

Artie watched the pair go then grabbed the remote to the TV. He turned the volume down and sat down on the couch. The Eagles completed a pass for a touchdown, making the old man cheer before he caught himself, looking around bashfully.

"What's going on in here now? A tailgate party that I wasn't invited to?"

Artie looked up to see that Claudia walking in the office. He grinned bashfully and laughed a bit at himself. "Ah- just- uh- Steve's game is on."

She walked up and said, "Jets and Eagles. Your team, right?"

"Ah- not really, I mean, into hockey lately, being up here in Dakota and all…" He stopped to watch the next running play go through three Jets defenders. "But—yeah – from Philly." He shrugged a bit.

Claudia sat down next to him on the couch. "How's Tebow doing?"

"Hu?"

"The backup for the Jets, right? He's so cute," she restated.

The old man did a double take at the girl out of the corner of his eye, making her smirk at his squeamishness. "Uh, I just sat down, but- judging by the score. Doesn't look like the Eagles are having a problem." He grinned a bit.

"I see that!"

Claudia looked around at the set up spread out on the table in front of the TV. "Well, no sense letting this go to waste!" She grabbed a Dorito.

Artie looked at the stack of plates, obviously meant for sharing. Instead he reached down and shoveled a loaded nacho down his throat.


	4. Gangnam Style

**I apologize for my long delay with this story. I plain forgot about it. :)**

**Thanks to those who read and review. And to Maria Rene for helping me with ideas and wording. Thanks to Kendralynora for her input.**

* * *

Artie and Claudia burst into cheers when the Eagles ran in for a touchdown. Claudia held her hand up. Artie looked at it awkwardly.

"High five, Artie!" Claudia left her hand up. "Aw… don't leave me hanging!"

The old man raised an eyebrow, and gave Claudia a pained look. He looked up at her hand, then sighed and returned the high five which returned Claudia into celebration mode.

Artie laughed at Claudia's celebration dance, when his attention was grabbed by a ping. He sat down at his desk, taking one last glance to chuckle at Claudia dancing "Gangnam Style." He shook his head and wondered why riding a horse was considered dancing. He sighed and clicked on his computer. The old man jerked back in surprise with a frown.

"What's up papa bear?" Claudia danced over to look at the screen.

"What- what is this? Some—" he squinted at the screen. "A tweet?"

"It's a twitter feed." Claudia reached over Artie's shoulder and clicked a button on his large mouse pad. "See there." She said as if that explained everything. The girl plopped back down in front of the nachos to watch the next play.

Artie's eyebrows danced with his confusion. "Wh-where?" He leaned into the computer. "'Got passed by a guy on 9th street. Is Usain Bolt in town?'" he read. He jerked backwards with a confused look. "Why did this generate a ping?" he mumbled. Artie deftly swung the constantly streaming news feed to rotate to the user's information who did the tweet. He blinked when he saw that twenty more tweets using Usain Bolt's name came up. His eyebrows bunched up. All of the users were from Calgary, Alberta.

"Now _that _might warrant a ping." Artie mumbled to his monitor. Behind him Claudia cheered a field goal. His thick fingers breezed over the antiquated keyboard. Soon he had traffic surveillance of 9th street in Calgary. He crossed checked the time of the tweets and pulled up the pictures from around the same time.

A black and white image caught Artie's sharp eye. He enlarged it, and tilted his head, trying to decipher a smudge on an otherwise clear shot. He saved the image and pulled up a second shot, a block further down. Artie folded his arms and sat back in his chair, almost convinced that this was a wild goose chase. He glanced over his shoulder to check on the game. When he looked back at his computer his bored expression melted into one of a blank stare.

Artie sprang forward. He blinked hard, and actually reached out in awe to touch his monitor. His hand turned over in an incredulous expression. He blinked again, in a state of awe and shock. Before him was a black and white shot of a traffic intersection. To the right was a clear image of a man moving so fast that he passed the cars on the road.


	5. Calgary

**Massive thanks to Kendralanora, who not only gave me the inspiration (shoved) to write another chapter, but edited as well. It is her knowledge of hockey that gives Myka her awesomeness.**

**Thanks to Rosa Clearwater as well for pressure. And to those who reviewed!**

**Please forgive the obvious time discrepancy. **

* * *

A few minutes later, and a wise divert to avoid walking by Dante's Death Mask, Leena and Steve arrived at the Nautical Section.

The boats that the Warehouse had accumulated over the years were quite impressive to Steve. He saw everything from small sail boats, to skinners, commercial fishing boats, row boats, and a canoe.

"Wow." He said. Steve was reminded about the vastness of the Warehouse at spots like that, when the aisles opened up to make gaping areas that dwarfed large items like the boats that were stored there.

Steve and Leena stopped and stared for a moment, uncertain of where to go as they looked at the fleet. Steve glanced at his companion. "Any ideas?"

Leena took in a breath and said, "It's definitely coming from this sector."

Steve listened then raised an eyebrow. He walked up to the first boat. "What are you doing?" Leena asked.

"I don't know. Trying to find out which one is acting up?" He reached out to touch the hull of the first boat.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" Leena asked, concerned and a bit amused.

Steve frowned, but pulled his hand back. "No. But whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it." He gave Leena a charming smile as he pressed his palm to the hull of the boat.

Then, nothing happened.

"Well, that was anti-climatic." Steve said. He wiped the dust from his gloved hand. "Got any ideas?"

"Yeah, don't get killed." Leena said flatly.

"Okay, anything a bit more helpful than that?"

Leena looked around at the boats, straining her neck. "Smell any fudge?"

Steve huffed a laugh at her. But seeing her serious expression, he sniffed the air as Leena snuck around the hull. Shaking his head at falling for what might or might not have been a joke, Steve went after Leena.

Cranking her neck, Leena was looking up at the top of the boats as she walked slowly along. Steve followed suit, keeping an eye at ground level, to prevent tripping on the various items that supported the boats.

Steve felt something on his arm. He looked down to see Leena's hand on his forearm. "What?" He follows Leena's finger as she pointed. The boats in the next area had all slid, stands and all, to all point in the same direction. Leena and Steve slowly circle around the front hull of the closest boat to see that the boats the next row over had slid towards them so that all of the boats in the whole Nautical Section of the Warehouse were all pointing at a single boat.

Steve smirked. "Who needs vibes?"

Leena smiled back and they both ducked under the bow of a boat as they made their way to the center of the mess.

* * *

Pete and Myka arrived in downtown Calgary. The skyscrapers rose above them into the crisp, blue sky. The pair stood outside of a trendy Marriott hotel, across from the impressive Calgary Tower.

Myka covered her eyes and looked up at the thin tower with a disk at the top, getting her bearings. Pete put his hands on his belt and looked around the popular corner, people in suits busily walking to get somewhere else. His eyes gravitated to a local bar, decked out in a sea of red Calgary Flames décor.

Myka noted Pete's amusement. Pete motioned to the bar. "The Calgary Flames." He grinned like a juvenile. "Not the toughest name in sports. I mean what's their mascot? A unicorn?"

Myka cringed at his bad joke. "Pete! The fans here are dedicated to their hockey team. This _is_ Canada. Want to get us killed?"

"Pft, please, they won't kill us. Murder is not considered to be polite."

An evil smirk twitch on the brunette's face; deciding to give Pete a nice Canadian welcome to the city. "What?" she spoke louder than necessary, "You think that the Edmonton Oilers make the Flames look worse than the Toronto Maple Leafs farm team?"

"Wha-?" Pete looked to her in confusion before he realized a business women, passing by them, looked as if she might stick her stiletto into him at any moment.

Myka snickered, knowing the Oilers and the Flames to be competitive rival NHL teams. She also didn't mind making a jab at Toronto, even though she adored the city. Pete's face was worth the insult.

Pete shivered after the scary lady fell out of ear-shot, and then huffed, "Oilers? They really aren't creative with team names are they? They just stole the name from Texas."

Myka squinted her eyes in confusion, "Texas? Their team's the Stars."

"No, not hockey. Football! You know, the sport that matters!"

Myka smiled at a passer -by who was giving Pete a dirty look and whispered, "Just, shut it and try not to get us killed by an angry mob, okay?"

"Okay, okay. Geesh." Pete said defensively.

"I don't think that's too much to ask!" Myka whispered to him quickly.

A beat passed with Myka referring to a map of down town. Pete let her figure out the geography while he checked out the locals.

"All right, Artie said that the pictures were down 9th street. That's west of here." Myka pointed and the pair started down the street.

A block later, the partners were looking up and down 9th street. Myka noted the traffic cameras that Artie hacked into to get the images, and then looked up and down the block. She crossed the street and walked up to Pete who finished questioning the employees of the corner store.

"No one's seen a thing. Although they all think that I'm insane." He said cringing at asking about fudge.

Myka tapped her lip. "We can get Claudia to look up the businesses along this street. See if we can track his progress. If someone was running down this block, he has to be going somewhere right?"

Pete shook his head. "Myka, this guy is moving so fast that people can't even see him. How far does this block go?" He looked up and down the block. "Miles. He could have gone anywhere."

"There has to be some way to track him. He had to have left some clue; we just have to find it." Myka looked up at the cameras again, thinking. "Somehow." She said.

"I think I found something." Pete said. Myka turned and followed Pete to the curb by the street. "Something I learned from you." Pete said as he squatted. "Look down." Next to him was a foot print impacted into the asphalt.


	6. What Flashlights Reveal

**Here we go again guys.**

**Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. They inspire me. Truly.**

* * *

Leena and Steve ducked under a few low laying ropes to get to what looked to be an old, unimpressive wooden boat. Leena stopped at the digital display to read about the artifact briefly. "Skiff. 1784." She read silently, but said nothing else.

"What does it do?" Steve asked.

"Doesn't say." Leena re-read the entry in the hopes of gleaning something useful. "It only says that it's believed that the boat was used to land at so many different countries that it started to accumulate the energies of the lands and seas."

They both walked around the ship, ducking under the front of the other boats that appear to have been attracted to the pirate ship. Steve looked at Leena, then at a rope hanging down the side of the boat. Slowly, he reached a hand up. With a neutralized glove, he touched, then grabbed a rope quickly, expecting sparks.

Instead, nothing happened. He said, "How are we suppose to neutralize this?"

"Well, if it picked up 'energies' from landing on islands, maybe it's the bottom of the boat?" Leena suggested.

They both tilted their heads and looked at the bottom of the boat. It appeared completely normal and benign.

"Could the energy part be the inside of the boat? Like that big spar on the bottom? It would hit a beach first, maybe that's where most of the energies would accumulate, but if it's normal on the outside, maybe we have to get on the inside of it?" Steve suggested.

Leena walked up to the bottom of the boat that was held up by a wooden frame and laid her gloved hand on the large spar on the front of the boat. "Tingley." She rubbed her hand up and down the piece of wood, looking for more reaction, but getting none.

Leena backed away from the boat to stand next to Steve as they both pondered the situation. Steve said, "What do you think about going at it from the inside?"

"You think that will work?" Leena asked him.

"No idea." He admitted immediately. "Got a better suggestion?"

Leena thought for a moment. "Not really. Let's give it a try."

Steve took a breath then rounded the wooden skiff to find a way to board the boat. He spotted a staircase on wheels and jogged over to it. Leena helped him push the stairs next to the boat.

"After you." Steve offered Leena, like a gentleman. Leena looked up at the boat like she was suddenly seasick. "You wanted to come." Steve said with a twinkle in his blue eyes. Leena took a breath to gather herself as she climbed the stairs. Steve picked up the canister of goo and headed up the stairs after her.

Soon, Steve was joining Leena on the deck of the boat. He found himself eyeing the old boards, suspicious that they might fall through simply because of the age of the boat. He could see straight through the deck to the lower level in some gaps. Leena's and Steve's shoes echo hollowly on the wooden deck.

"Creepy." Leena voiced his thought.

Trying to keep the mood light, Steve huffed out a laugh. "Yeah." He looked around and could almost picture a sailor at the helm of the old boat holding the big wheel to steer. The vessel was actually sort of smallish. Steve thought that a boat that sailed around the Caribbean would have been bigger. He broke out into a grin. Leena caught him smiling and gave him a confusing look. Steve quoted his favorite line from Jaws. "We need a bigger boat!" Leena squinted and shook her head. "C'mon. That was funny!" Steve got a smile out her for that, cracking under his requests for her to laugh and help break the tension.

Under the steering wheel, in the deck that they were on, was a trap door. "Is that out doorway to the lower levels?"

"Looks like." Leena said. She walked up next to him as he bent down to pull the grate open to reveal a steep set of stairs leading down.

"After you?" Steve offered Leena again.

She tilted her head at him and said, "Oh no, it's your turn."

Steve smirked and looked into the darkness. It was his turn to take a breath for courage as he descended to the lower deck.

Agent Jinks got to the second floor down on the boat- for lack of a better term- and was shortly joined by Leena. Light snuck in through the cracks and imperfections of the floor above them. He reached into his pocket for a flashlight when Leena clicked on her torch.

He let her lead the way forward, vaguely in the direction of the front of the boat. Steve caught movement as her flashlight beam crossed an old box. Steve calmed himself, passing it off as just odd shadows. Then, he heard something moving.

"Mice?" Leena whispered as she peeked over her shoulder at him.

He shrugged. "Sure." They crept along quietly, suddenly aware of how loud their steps were.

"Did you see that?" Leena whispered harshly. She flashed her light into a corner.

"No- what?"

"Thought I saw something move."

"I'm sure it's nothing." But he still kept his voice as quiet as possible. "Why are we whispering?"

"You started."

"I did?" He bickered back, but still not daring to raise his voice. He smiled a bit at their exchange. Steve had never been out in the Warehouse with Leena before and he realized that he was enjoying the time with her.

Suddenly, Steve saw something moving too. "That was not a rat." He said with growing alarm.

"Let's do this quickly." Leena strongly suggested.

"Agreed." She and he picked up their pace.

Steve stepped over a lip of an open doorway that lead to a separate room further forward in the ship. Leena's flashlight found a trap door in the floor. "Down?"

"The only way I've been going lately." It was a bad joke, but the boat was unnerving him. Leena stepped back to let him go down to the lower level first. Steve was the agent, so he went first, lowering himself into the dry, creaky, old, deeper level.

Steve had to let his eyes adjust to the lower, darker level, but before they did, he got the impression that the room was moving.

"Whoa." He grabbed the bottom of the floor above him, which was by his head.

"What's wrong?" Leena asked quickly.

"Did you feel that? Like the whole boat rocked."

"No, but I think there's something in the corner. Moving I mean."

She and he exchanged nervous glances. "Let's get this thing neutralized."

Leena nodded. She lined up to follow him down the stairs and shrugged the neutralizer canister that he handed off to her.

He took Leena's flashlight/torch. He swore that he heard whispers of movement, so he fumbled just slightly with tremors of growing nervousness. He wasn't scared, but there was something going on that was not normal. He just didn't know what. He swung the light around and revealed what looked like a small supply room and three pirates.

Steve jumped back with shock. He stared at three men, in period clothes, and they stared at him.

_"They can't be real"._ He thought, but then he smelled them. Their stink confirmed their presence. His jaw dropped. _"Uh oh…"_


	7. Footprints

**I apologize for the delay. Hopefully things will come faster now.**

**Reviews and input of any kind are appreciated. **

* * *

"Artie, there was a foot print right into the street!" Pete exclaimed, clearly excited.

His boss didn't share his enthusiasm. He'd heard of more impressive feats. He'd seen more impressive feats himself. Artie sighed and barely suppressed a roll of his eyes at his easily impressed agents. A moment passed then another.

Myka glanced at her partner nervously who shrugged and silently mouthed "Wha-?"

"And being the stellar agents that you are you followed the prints, have the person in custody and have already neutralize the artifact." Artie blurted out in a rapid outburst of words.

Myka looked between Pete and the Farnsworth. "A-Actually the footprints they- they stopped a few blocks down."

Pete picked up where Myka left off, "Maybe he stopped using the artifact."

Starting to synergize, Myka said, "Or she!"

Pete raised his eyebrows at Myka, "Oh snap! Like a female Flash! Or Supergirl!" Pete bounced a little in boyish eagerness. "She was so _hot! _I had a major crush on her."

"When? Last week?" Myka said with a nerdy chuckle.

"Noo." Pete replied with mock offense, but he didn't say when. Instead he turned away, making Myka smile because she knew that she was close to the truth.

The graying supervisor adjusted his glasses and took charge. "Ok, look. Claudia was able to clean up some images and she uh- took them- with the…" The old man devolved into incomprehensible muttering until the red head techy popped in Pete's and Myka's screen.

"Please, sit down before you hurt yourself." Claudia quipped at Artie. "Leave the tech talk to those under 25." She held her hand out for his Farnsworth.

"Uh- good. Fine. Explain." Artie gave her his Farnsworth and let her take over briefing them. He gratefully went to the comfort of his desk and Warehouse system monitors.

Claudia dove into updating the partners as she sat down at her computer next to Artie. "Hey, so I ran the pics and vids through a couple of filters that I happen to know about, then I compiled the images untiiiil I got this." She turned the Farnsworth around to show Pete and Myka her screen.

Pete and Myka both leaned in and squinted at the double digital image. Think lines rotated down their screen, cutting up the picture. Myka tilted her head and spoke up. "Claudia, can you send us that image?"

"Yeah, oh wait." The techy leaned over and pressed a button to send the image to her printer, then clicked her mouse a few times. "Okaaaay… and it's on the way to you now. But look at this." Claudia leaned over and grabbed the sheet that her printer was just turning out. She held the sheet up for Pete and Myka to see over the Farnsworth. The image showed a fuzzy person in a white t-shirt and long pants. What stood out was that where his feet would be was a light color with a clear Nike swoosh on the side of form fitting shoes.

"You see that? Not quite standard footwear!" Claudia said.

Myka squinted at the black and white image in the Farnsworth. "What is that?"

Pete chimed in, "Claudia, wait a minute, are you telling us that this guy has some sort of artifact running shoes?"

Suddenly Artie popped back into their view. "Probably. You _may_ be looking for Michael Johnson's running shoes, the same ones that he wore in the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was the first man to win both the 200 and 400 meter races, breaking both Olympic and World records, and these were the shoes that he wore when he ran those races. You'll know them when you see them. They're custom made gold shoes by Nike."

Pete looked up and said, "Oh yeah… I remember those. The gold shoes. Man, that guy was fast!"

Artie leaned in, "Well, so is this guy! Keep an eye out and go bag an artifact!" He promptly flipped the Farnsworth closed, effectively ending the conversation.


	8. But Where is the Rum?

**OK, back to Leena and Steve on the ship.**

**Hope you like this. Things are starting to pick up. Review if desired. I appreciate it!**

* * *

_Steve took Leena's flashlight/torch. He swore that he heard whispers of movement, so he fumbled just slightly with tremors of growing nervousness. He wasn't scared, but there was something going on that was not normal. He just didn't know what. He swung the light around and revealed what looked like a small supply room and three pirates._

* * *

Steve jumped back with shock. He stared at three men, in period clothes, and they stared at him.

_"They can't be real"._ He thought, but then he smelled them. Their stink confirmed their presence. His jaw dropped. _"Uh oh…"_

"WITCHES!" The men screamed.

Steve didn't wait. He was a Buddhist, but he was also an agent and knew when action was necessary. He jumped forward, twisting around a punch from a man in a striped red and white shirt. A second pirate, with a yellow/gray beard, threw a wooden box at him, which he barely dodged in time. It crashed into the wall an inch away from his head. The third pirate, in a dark shirt with sweat marks and a red scarf, went to grab for something at his waist.

In the small area, Steve spun around the bearded man and shoved the red scarf pirate's elbow down, which forced his arm down and re-sheathed his sword.

A poorly formed fist caught Steve partly on his face, but he was moving away from it and barely registered the impact. Quickly, he turned and caught the red and white shirt pirate in the neck with an elbow that sent him crashing, head first, into the wall. The pirate fell to the floor and didn't move. Steve caught something familiar about the artifact generated pirate, but he didn't have time to think of it more; the red scarf pirate was going for his sword again.

Steve reached out and shoved pirate's elbow back down, again re-sheathing the sword. The young agent lowered his shoulder and shoved him hard into the wall of the small room.

Then, the bearded pirate noticed Leena at the foot of the stairs. Steve gasped. He forgot that she was behind him for a moment. "Hey!" Steve waved one hand up and out wide, in a "Jedi Mind trick" sort of way. The bearded pirate watched his hand for a split second. In that moment, Steve hit the man hard with a hard right cross. The pirate spun and fell into a stack of small wooden boxes with a crash.

Steve turned around quickly, remembering the sword pirate, but it was too late. The pirate with the red scarf pulled his sword out and aimed the tip at Steve's heart.

Breathless, Steve looked at the surprisingly young pirate who grinned. Suddenly, there was a solid thud and the pirate's smile faded. Steve didn't know what happened, but he saw the pirate's brown eyes roll up into his head and fall forward, unconscious.

Steve looked up to see Leena, holding the metal goo canister which had a dent in the side of it where she whammed the pirate holding the sword.

Steve smiled, a bit breathless. Leena reflected his smiled back. Steve thought that it was more of a "what the hell" look, but he appreciated the help. She said, "Please tell me that we're near the spar."

Steve grinned at Leena getting in on the action and pointed down. There was a bit of a "V" to the floor. "I'm betting we can follow that."

Leena said, "Let's get this over with!"

Steve followed Leena into the next room and directly into two sharp sword points. "Uh…" Steve looked at Leena and then at the two sword points then at the toothless pirates wielding them. He hitched up.

He didn't take his eyes off of the sword tips but held up his hands to ward off a thrust. The female pirate with the messy, long brown hair bore a striking resemblance to Claudia. He whispered to Leena, "Claudia?"

"That's what I see." Leena nodded and whispered back, obviously as concerned and confused as Steve was.

Steve's eyebrows went up as he tried the only thing that came to his mind. He put his hands up higher and said, "Parley?" The pirates appeared unimpressed. Disappointed, Steve said, "That works in the movies…"

"Up! The Captain will want to see you. I'll not be risking your wraith in the afterworld by running you through." The male pirate growled at them and poked his sword at Leena.

"Hey, hey!" Steve squeezed in-between Leena and the pirate's sword, using himself to shield her. "We're going. Ok?" The Claudia pirate looked unconvinced, which made him think that he was using the wrong language, so Steve repeated the words that were used. "Up!" Steve pointed to the ceiling and backed up as much he could until Leena got the idea and they all backed out of the small room the way they came in.


End file.
